OAKLAND — The mother of Hans Reiser was back on the witness stand in the murder trial of her son Thursday, this time testifying for the defense about a letter she wrote in 2005 saying her daughter-in-law had threatened to run away with the kids to Sweden.

Beverly Palmer, who testified late last year during the prosecution’s case, answered questions from the defense about a letter she wrote in January 2005. In the letter, addressed “Whom It May Concern,” Palmer writes about a conversation she said she had with her daughter-in-law Nina Reiser during the summer of 2004.

In the letter, Palmer said Nina, who was in Russia at the time with the couple’s two children, threatened to flee to Sweden with the children and never come back unless a large sum of money was put into her bank account.

Palmer said she could not recall the exact sum Nina Reiser allegedly asked for.

Prosecutor Paul Hora, in cross-examination, asked why it took her six months to write her recollection of the conversation. He also asked if the couple’s divorce already was becoming acrimonious by January 2005.

“It must have been part of the divorce proceedings,” Palmer answered.

“Hans encouraged you to write this?” Hora asked.

“Probably,” Palmer said.

Hora continued questioning about the letter, asking why she called someone who threatened to take her grandchildren away forever a “lovely person” when police questioned her after Nina Reiser’s disappearance in September 2006.

Palmer said sometimes “lovely people” can do desperate things.

The highlight of Thursday’s session, however, was videotapes played by the defense team of Hans and Nina Reiser’s wedding and reception party in May 1999.

Defense attorneys played the two videos for nearly an hour in the afternoon. The first video showed the wedding in Tilden Park.

It was held in what Palmer called a “labyrinth” in the park. Both Nina and Hans danced and jumped around the rocks in the labyrinth as the wedding party looked on.

Included in the party was Sean Sturgeon, with whom Nina Reiser later admitted to having an affair. Sturgeon was the “maid of honor” at the wedding and wore a dress. Sturgeon’s girlfriend was the “best man” and wore a suit.

The videotape showed a man carrying around a steer’s head and leading the couple through the labyrinth. Defense attorney William DuBois, puzzled, asked about the man. Palmer said she hired him as an entertainer for the wedding.

“He was supposed to be a Minotaur,” Palmer said.

A quizzical DuBois asked, “Did you ever consider having a church wedding?”

The question brought laughter from nearly everyone.

“No,” Palmer said, also laughing.

The questioning became more bizarre.

“Now the Minotaur has a tambourine?” DuBois asked.

“I can’t tell if he does or not,” Palmer said, smiling.

The video again showed Hans Reiser jumping and leaping around the stones.

“Can you tell us what’s going on here?” asked DuBois, as a couple of male jurors laughed. “What’s the Minotaur doing?”

The video of the reception also drew chuckles, as a band of Palmer’s friends played trance music and a dancer belly-danced.

When told it was trance music being played, DuBois drew out a long, “OK,” and asked, “What kind of music is that?”

At that point Judge Larry Goodman said the court did not need an explanation of trance music. Goodman later grew impatient with the long videos and asked DuBois to just fast-forward to the important scenes, which included one of Hans Reiser falling while trying to dance. Two male jurors again laughed.

At the trial’s morning session, the prosecution continued its cross-examination of Beverly Parr, a Southern California psychiatrist. Hora suggested that Reiser seems to show characteristics more in line with narcissistic personality disorder than with Asperger’s disorder, which inhibits the development of social skills.

Parr, who was on the stand for a second day Thursday, was reluctant to agree with the theory.

The defense offered Parr not as an expert witness on mental disorders, but as someone who has known Hans Reiser since he was a child. However, on Wednesday the defense asked Parr if Hans Reiser could have Asperger’s disorder. Parr said that based on her knowledge of Hans Reiser and after talking to another friend who knew the computer software engineer, he seemed to have symptoms of the disorder. However, she said she had never examined Reiser and was not offering a diagnosis.

Hora read a description of the disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. Some of the characteristics of the disorder include an inflated feeling of self, a belief that one is special and unique, arrogance and lack of sympathy toward others.

After several indirect answers as to whether Reiser may have a narcissistic personality disorder, Parr finally said, “I haven’t examined him, so I hesitate to say because I’m not going to diagnose Hans, but I truly have never considered Hans a narcissistic personality.”